OU wants to upgrade dorms

Students are living in buildings that are 50 years old, and Ohio University has had no plan to upgrade them.

Students are living in buildings that are 50 years old, and Ohio University has had no plan to upgrade them.

But trustees will consider a $154.5 million proposal today that would renovate about a quarter of the university's residence halls during the next 10 years. It calls for upgrading 10 buildings -- one per year -- through 2017, in projects costing $3.5 million to $42 million.

Students would pay for the upgrades, at least for the first half of the plan, through yearly 6 percent increases in their room-and-board costs over the next five years.

Most students paid $2,533 the past academic year, but that would increase to $2,685 this fall if trustees accept the plan. After five years, room and board would cost $3,390.

"It's a big task, but we really need to move (on this plan). There are a lot of buildings to deal with," said John Kotowski, associate vice president for facilities.

Seven of the halls on the plan are 1950s-era brick buildings on the college's picturesque East Green. Kotowski vowed to maintain their traditional appeal, but said that they are "at the end of their usable life."

The upgrades would replace window cooling units with central air and add other amenities, such as sinks and kitchen utilities, to a student's room. Some common areas would be refurbished with leather couches and chairs, pianos, fireplaces, carpet, widescreen televisions and laundry facilities. Aged plumbing systems, worn-out windows and a crumbling general infrastructure also merit renovations for the safety and comfort of the students, Kotowski said.

The renovations are designed to blend Vision Ohio, the college's academic plan, into students' residential lives, said university spokeswoman Sally Linder. Additions would include classrooms, living space for faculty members and other places for professors to interact with students.

"The halls will be more than just places to eat and sleep; they will be learning environments for growth and interaction," Linder said.

But adding space for learning means there will be less room for students. Kotowski guessed that a 250-bed hall would hold about 185 beds when renovated.

A new 350-bed hall, to open this fall, will handle the need caused by closing a hall each year. But unless enrollment is frozen, the college might need an additional building by 2013 because of the total reduction in beds.

The living-learning concept is part of a growing national trend, said Genny Walters, a spokeswoman for the National Association of College and University Residence Halls.

"It's a relatively recent thing, but I would say that evolving residence life into these living-learning halls is becoming a goal of more and more institutions," she said. "I work at the University of Missouri-Rolla, and we just opened our second living-learning hall. It's working great for us."

Some OU students, however, questioned the need for the project.

Sophomore Lauren Blalock, 18, said she came to the college for the academics, not for a "fancy place to live."

"I don't have a problem with my dorm at all," said Blalock, who lives in Washington Hall, which is listed for $16.7 million in upgrades. "But there is so much equipment that we could use fixed in the Art Department."

Vanessa Maimone, a senior who lives on OU's South Green, said she has no idea how university officials can justify pouring millions into East Green.

"I've lived in those dorms, and they are some of the nicest ones on campus already," said Maimone, 21. "I can see renovating them a little, maybe repairing cracks and things, but these dorms are already a lot nicer and cleaner. I mean, they even have pianos."

Kotowski said more South Green buildings will be part of a future renovation plan.

Tim Vonville, president of the Student Senate, said the plan is long overdue.

"The last thing I want is for fees to jump again, but housing has been one of the students' No. 1 problems," said Vonville, 21 and a senior. "There will probably be criticism about funding, especially with cuts in athletics and such, but it needs to happen."

dconrad@dispatch.com

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